Some days ago, a netizen commented on a Facebook picture of me carrying a baby in my arms, taken during one of my weekly block visits. He thought it was just a pretentious move and highlighted that cradling a baby or shaking hands with others does not genuinely reflect a loving or friendly personality.

Another netizen remarked against this: “When he drops in to visit, you accused him for being pretentious and when he doesn’t, you slam him for being indifferent. When he smiles, you brush it off as a smirk, but when he doesn’t, you chastise him for being a snob.”

I am grateful for both comments. After all, social media is a platform for interaction.

After six years as a MP, I have learnt that for whatever we do, we have to prepared that there will be both approving and disapproving voices. The same applies to government policies which are devised to take care of the interests of the vast majority, but cannot prevent a minority from being affected negatively.

We should always give our best in what we reckon should be done. However, we cannot allow success rule over our heads. We should also listen and learn from feedback and criticisms so as to improve the way we do things and the lives of our fellow countrymen.

The mass media has been quite kind to me and I am grateful for the various opportunities it has provided me.

I am no thespian, but have bitten the bullet to act in front of camera, eg as the father of Zhu Ying Tai in Butterfly Lovers during the Ren Ci Hospital charity show, and as a Rohan monk, Persian Prince and a herbalist for the Speak Mandarin campaign.

Even though I am tone deaf, I went on the “Don’t Forget Your Lyrics” game show to help raise funds for Queenstown Multiservice Centre.

In response to a question by a resident during KopiTalk on my involvement at the recent Stars Award, I explained that I was there to present the “Best Current Affairs Reporting” and “Best News Reporting” Awards in my capacity as the deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Information, Communications & the Arts.

A game show such as “We are Singaporeans” would allow people to see the less meditative side of us.

While we take our role seriously to look after various matters in the constituency, take care of residents’ needs and debate on national issues in parliament, at times, we can also appreciate good humour and let our hair down.

Till today, people still remember my appearance in “Gatekeepers” gameshow some years ago, and that I managed answer all the questions correctly. I always smiled and replied that it would be rather embarrassing if I fail to of take on questions from the primary school curriculum!

It is therefore important to strike a good balance between exposing our unfamiliarity in such “extracurricular activities”, and taking on such challenges gamely.

Some feel that showing up on these programmes is a waste of time. They felt it would have been more productive for MPs to attend community events and look after the needs of residents.

Without a single doubt, the interest of my constituency and public service is my top priority as a MP. Only when my schedule permits, will I consider accepting such media invites.

In my opinion, media exposure and public service are not mutually exclusive. Not all residents take part in community activities and the public can also get to know me better through the media.

People will not be any less demanding in their expectations of me just because I can carry babies well, post many pictures on Facebook or appear on TV frequently. As an MP, my first and foremost duty is to serve with sincerity and humility, ensure that all matters within the constituency are properly managed, and that the needs and concerns of residents are adequately addressed. We will ultimately be subject to the appraisal by residents and their rating during elections.

Wah say, I like this article and wish everyone reads it and think about it. Thanks Chee Seng for the article.

Subject: FW: Economics 101….Think about it!!!

When the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Is this man truly a genius?

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Socialist’s plan”. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A…. (substituting grades for dollars – something closer to home and more readily understood by all).After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.These are possibly the 5 best sentences you’ll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Looking for a software developer to work with the company in growing the business in the marine/satellite/broadcast…

Below is the requirements. If you are interested, please do send an email to Vincent Tay at vintravt@hotmail.

Responsibilities:The successful candidate will be responsible:• to develop key software modules for our network management system, and must be able to work with tight project deadlines.• to develop software drivers and graphics screens according to the specifications of customers’ requirements• provide software support to our customers• involved in project management, working with our implementation team

Requirements:• Candidate must possess at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science/Information Technology, Engineering (Computer/Telecommunication), Engineering (Electrical/Electronic) or equivalent.• Required skill(s): C++, Adobe Flash (AS), PHP, HTML, Linux, GCC, UML, Database design, SDLC process.• At least 2 year(s) of working experience in the related field is required for this position.• Applicants must be willing to work in Ubi Area.• Preferably Junior Executives specializing in IT/Computer – Software or equivalent.

My child scored the second highest in her class for a recent Maths common test, but her achievement was undermined by a classmate to be due to her father being an MP.

I was told by a fellow MP that he made his appearance as the parent of his daughter for the very first time during her polytechnic graduation ceremony. It was only then that her classmates knew about their relationship.

A Minister chose not to see his son off during his enlistment, but showed up only at his passing-out parade, so as to avoid any unnecessary attention during the course of his basic military training.

Just because one is related to someone, one would be seen in a different light or tasked to meet higher expectations.

It is not uncommon to find ourselves asking a doctor friend if his children would follow in his footsteps, or expect an artist friend’s children to be artistically talented too. We can easily find a few such examples: Wee Cho Yaw and Wee Ee Chong in the banking sector, theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun and daughter Kuo Jian Hong, Patrick and Nicholas Tse in the entertainment sphere, David Tao Sr. and David Tao in the Mandopop industry. In politics, there are the Kennedys and the Bush father and sons in the USA, the Nehru-Ghandi family in India, the Bhuttos in Pakistan, the Aquinos in the Philippines, General Aung San and Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar and of course, Lee Kuan Yew and and Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore.

Whether it is nature or nurture, following the footsteps could have been a natural course of events or even a well deserved accession. Sometimes, it is not a personal choice. For example, the constitution would have to be changed if Prince Charles were not to inherit the throne from Queen Elizabeth II or if Maha Vajiralongkorn were not coronated following Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s reign. Being born into royalty brings with it wealth and luxury, but sometimes life is far from being a bed of roses when there are family disputes, infightings, and even usurpation.

I told my child, “You do not have tuition, therefore you deserve every mark you have earned yourself. Others may not realize it, but I am aware and more importantly, you know what you have put in. You should be proud of yourself and not be bothered by what others say. On the other hand, you cannot be conceited but continue to be diligent.

Due to my public role, there is more public interest and scrutiny. Your classmate may not necessarily understand what I do, but I am sure his comments meant no malice. It is crucial that you do not take things for granted or feel privileged in any way just because your father is an MP. On the contrary, there are higher expectations of you precisely because you are the child of an MP. As long as you do your best according to your conscience, there is no need for any self-imposed pressure. Be courageous enough to own up to any wrongdoing, for every mistake we make will prove to be a learning experience. In this common test, you had told your teacher she had given you an extra half mark. I am proud of your honesty. We should not take credit if we have not put in the effort. As long as you commit yourself to your tasks, what you learn in the process and gain from the results are yours to keep, forever.”

The Organs of our body have their sensory touches at the bottom of our foot, if you massage these points you will find relief from aches and pains as you can see the organs are on right and left foot, the heart is on the left foot.

This is covered in great details in Acupressure studies or textbooks.

God created our body so well that he thought of even this. He made us walk so that we will always be pressing these pressure points and thus keeping these organs activated at all times.

Auntie Me is not up to standard yet to chart so I get a Guru, Ivan Koh, to chart the Gold for me.

Always gana spoonfeeded, so never learn how to fish, spoilt by good friends. Don’t sweat the small stuff, let the gurus crack their head to come up charts for us, haha.

See the benefits of having guru friends, haha.

Gold historical high @ 1920.95 (Red comment in the chart)

Spot Gold Chart dated 09/05/12

In case you are unable to see the most important comment in the box, I repeat it word by word below:

“Strong dollar vs Euro currencies may put pressure on Gold price short-term… cyclical low in June-Aug should provide support at 1520 and risk down to 1450.” So cleverly or professionally worded, no commitment.